Student blogging and parent concerns

I'm in the process of setting up a new classroom blog. Last year my blog just shared classroom information with parents. This year I would like to have my students as contributors to the blog (able to comment and post). Although I let my students and parents know of blogging etiquette, use first name only, never connect a picture with a name I have few parents that do not want their children involved. My blog is also not searchable on a search engine. Any suggestions how I can talk to parents to lessen their concerns? Altough respectful of parents decisions I would all my students to have this opportunity.

Tags: blogging, parents

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Permalink Reply by Robert Kennedy on August 18, 2010 at 4:37pm

Hi Sue,

I do a blog with my 2nd grade class. The biggest things that I do are use a made up username (like soccergirl) instead of first names, and we never discuss vital personal information on the blog. For example, a blog post about my brothers and sisters wouldn't be ok for our blog, but a post about my favorite movie would be ok. If they do something that tells a story, I just remind them not to use any names of specific details.

We also have a detective from our local police department come in and talk to students (and families if they like) about being safe online.

This year I am creating my own blog on my classroom website (www.mrkennedysclass.com) using and SQL database and PHP. It's way more difficult to set-up than an Edublogs blog, but it gives me the freedom to post and display information that I want. I also want students to be able to respond to eachother.

Good luck with the blog! Let us know what you find out from parents and if you get everyone on board!

Bobby
It's a lo

Permalink Reply by Sue Scott on August 18, 2010 at 5:04pm

Thanks...great idea..if I use a # after their name, it wouldn't matter if I had two "baseballboy01"...I think this will work and help the parents to know their child's identity is not out there.

Permalink Reply by Robert Kennedy on August 18, 2010 at 7:43pm

Absolutely. And they get pretty creative with names. We had hamandcheese, jedikid and taylorswiftgirl last year :)

Permalink Reply by Sue Scott on August 19, 2010 at 10:31am

Too funny and I know the kids will love the idea of creating their own names...should be fun. I checked out your site...awesome..this is my first discussion as I'm getting more comfortable with this type of PLN....thanks so much again.

Permalink Reply by Judith Behrens on August 19, 2010 at 7:32am

Bobby!

I looked at your work at your site! It looks very nice. Did you buy your own website and set up your own server for this?? Was it hard learning SQL and PHP? I, too, found Edublogs a bit hard to set up.

Judi

Permalink Reply by Robert Kennedy on August 19, 2010 at 7:46am

Judi,

Thanks for the kind words! I made the website myself using HTML code. I use a host in the UK for my website 34sp.com. The cost is $30 per year and then I pay $9/year for the name mrkennedysclass.com.

SQL and PHP are pretty easy to learn if you know the basics of HTML and webpage layout. I started with HTML for Dummies and then went on to a beginner book for PHP. SQL is a database that you set up (much like a Microsoft Access database), and then once you store that database on your server you use a PHP or ASP document (instead of HTML) to recall data from the database.

I'm still setting up my blog using SQL, but when I get something up and running you can take a look at it, see if you like it and I can just send you the code I used.

I wanted a lot more freedom for students to start their own threads and reply to each other. I'm also thinking about having parents be able to respond, but I haven't decided if that's a good idea yet or not :)

Hope this helps,
Bobby

Permalink Reply by Judith Behrens on August 19, 2010 at 7:50am

I think parents should be allowed to view at first. Giving them contribution rights might make your students leary of contributing if they knew their parents could comment on their work!

Permalink Reply by Robert Kennedy on August 19, 2010 at 8:03am

That's true! I hadn't thought of it like that.

Permalink Reply by Judith Behrens on August 19, 2010 at 7:27am

Hi Sue!

Can you set up a technology education Open House, where you show your parents what blogging is and how it falls in alignments with the NETS-S, and NETS-T, from the ISTE. Print the standards and hand them out. Also print out the state's technology standards and show how the state and national standards are set and aligned. Show them how the blog works. Have them collaborate and set up a parent blog, inviting you in to guide them, or you create it and guide them through it. Show them that unless they invite people, they cannot come in and destroy what you have. Show that there are permissions that can be set to protect you and your students.

What service are you using for your blog, Sue?

Hope this helps!

Judi

Permalink Reply by Sue Scott on August 19, 2010 at 4:51pm

Thanks, I am currently taking my graduate studies with learning and teaching with technology. Today I printed the NETS-S and focused on Digital Citizenship....these are a great resources. Am now planning some lessons around introducing blogging, etiquette, cybersafety.....looking forward to starting the year in a few weeks.

Thanks again.

Permalink Reply by Mark Bennett on August 20, 2010 at 12:48am

Sue,

I agree with the other members in making the parent's making being a part of the publication as much as the children. The more involved the parents are, the more likely they are to come along for the ride. Children become sick of showing their work to the usual 'teacher' audience an really enjoy the work being shared digitally to others.

Having a parent information night, where you show off the standards would be beneficial. Also, showing the children/ parents a blog where contribution is encouraged, but privacy is respected & expected would help. You may choose to look at ours, where we do this.
http://sg3in2010.blogspot.com/

However, despite all the information you may give parents, they may still not be comfortable with their child's work being placed on the web.
- Privacy will be their main concern. You will need to address this specifically, showing them that the work is unable to be accessed by those outside of the school community.
- Their secondary concern will be student-to-student communication. They will be worried that 'cyber-bullying' may be rife if the students are given license to publish. You will need to show them that their comments/posts will be moderated by you before they go up online.
- Both the students and the parents need to be made aware of the school's Acceptable usage of ICT policy, and any actions found to be breaking these codes will be dealt with accordingly.

After all that, you will still have to provide the opportunity for those children who do not use the blog to show their work off in an appropriate way.

I hope this of help, as I have experienced first hand the concerns parents can raise when their idea of the classroom clashes with 21st century view.

Mark

Permalink Reply by Sarah on August 26, 2010 at 2:59pm

Has anyone ever used kidblog? I haven't used blogging with my class before for some of the safety and time constraint issues. I was thinking of giving it a try with the kidblog site. If you have used it did you like it? Was is difficult to manage/use?

Thanks,
sarah